Why did the birch Recording Custom bass drums not sound great?

The main reason I ask is that the guys in the Eames thread seem to love their drums, no complaints about the kick. What’s the crucial difference in construction?
 
Chris Whitten said:
I had issues with my studio drum sound (Gretsch) and then saw Jerry Marotta recording his Yamaha Rec Custom in 1984 and was blown away by the sound. I went out and bought the exact same kit. I had both 22" and 24" bass drums, both with a small port and never had any complaints on my studio drum sound. Probably one of my best ever drum sounds was working with Ed Stadium in 1986, playing those drums.
Click to expand...

Very cool.. I was 12 or 13 at the time.. a big fan of Julian Cope. You came up with some of the best music out of the UK I think. . I was also very much into the few early Cult albums, Cure, Smiths, Killing Joke , Siouxie , Echo, PIL, Big Audio and much more.

these days most cool underground/alternative stuff is done on a computer .. with computer sounds LOL .. All of you guys had a relatively heavy rock band backing which is what was so cool about it.. Most of these new kids would not even know how to get the job done if put in your position. . they are much too polite with their drum sounds and performance.
 
Push pull stroke said:
The main reason I ask is that the guys in the Eames thread seem to love their drums, no complaints about the kick. What’s the crucial difference in construction?
Click to expand...

they might be easier to get a good sound.. bearing edge and no paint on the inside of the shell. . My 70's Taiwan made 9000 with the seperate lugs.. had no paint on the inside and it was the best of any of my RC's. so that could be a large factor right there. . but the others were still very good..
 
The RCs I've ever played always had fine sounding kicks, but they were flattered in a special way through the lens of microphones in a way that didn't happen acoustically. Sometimes in recording scenarios you want drastically less low end than you'd think you'd want, since it keeps things clean down there. Same goes for bass guitar tones; I urge everyone to go find a solo-ed version of some of your favorite bass tone to see how much bottom end is really in there.

My Birch Absolute kick does seem fatter than an RC kick, new or old. The new kicks sound more like my BCAN, but I still think I like my drum better.

Nothing can touch an old Gretsch kick though...
 
I have heard the same feedback on RC kicks......BUT I think this may also speak to what a varied sound people want from a kick. I'm sure the RCs always did something really well, but if that "thing" wasn't your sound you may not of liked it.

Perhaps they were not as versatile as other kicks during a period and there was enough of them sold and used by people with enough playing experience to know what they wanted in a kick sound to create enough "bad press" that it become a refrain.
 
Artstar said:
they might be easier to get a good sound.. bearing edge and no paint on the inside of the shell. . My 70's Taiwan made 9000 with the seperate lugs.. had no paint on the inside and it was the best of any of my RC's. so that could be a large factor right there. . but the others were still very good..
Click to expand...
You have a taiwan made 9000 with the seprate lugs? Cool. In the classic natural finish?
 
Drum Mer said:
And upon triple checking the library, they used the name even earlier.
Click to expand...
Is this your personal library??? If so. I am very jealous;) And if it's on line, can you send me a link?🙏
 
Drum Mer said:
You have a taiwan made 9000 with the seprate lugs? Cool. In the classic natural finish?
Click to expand...

I did.. long time ago.... like this :

ygdk8nmjn7pwnyni5bzc.jpg
 
So I guess what we’ve learned is that people have different likes and dislikes. Me, I can’t think of a single time I heard someone using Yammies and thought they sounded poor. Didn’t usually know what the woods were, but I did many a gig with drummers who had the big middle port and never had a complaint with the bass drum unless the sound tech went nuts with the lows or the drummer played too soft or loud.

Chris, believe it or not, that’s the first time I’ve heard “World Shut Your Mouth.” Julian Cope was known in America but never broke beyond the college station/theater circuit. Still quite an accomplishment, but it did mean our commercial radio stations in central Fla never played him, and I lived too far away to pick up the college station. But that’s a darn good song and you crushed it. I guess that’s one of the rare times we’ll see you using a ride cymbal on a hit record ;)
 
PorkPieGuy said:
I may be mistaken but I think Carter Beauford either used and/or uses Yamaha RC birch toms with a maple kick.
Click to expand...
Carter did use a PHX kick with his old Japanese RC toms for a while. His tech runs his kit and told me he much preferred the PHX to the old RC kick.

He's since switched Carter to the NEW Chinese RC and said that kick is even better than the PHX now.
 
Push pull stroke said:
The main reason I ask is that the guys in the Eames thread seem to love their drums, no complaints about the kick. What’s the crucial difference in construction?
Click to expand...
FWIW, Jon Fishman used a Tama Artstar ll kick with his Eames through the early to mid 90s. He went back to his Eames again, ~2012-2014ish and put the original Eames kick back in the lineup. Even with the Ayotte, he replaced the kick with a Gretsch kick and even used a Recording Custom kick (!) with that Ayotte kit. And since he never endorsed anyone, I know he played an RC on their Japan tours (with original RC kick). Since then its been a circle of N&C, Gretsch, Yamaha (yes, stage custom for one year), Tama Bubinga Starclassic and now back to a Gretsch I think keeping the same kick, at least for tours.

I remember the Kenny Aronoff ads promoting the 22x18 bass drums by Tama. Then I just saw his interview and said he almost always uses a WLF 22x14 for just about everything he records. Now we have a bunch of old 90s-00s kits with 18" depth that no one wants, lol
 
s1212z said:
FWIW, Jon Fishman used a Tama Artstar ll kick with his Eames through the early to mid 90s. He went back to his Eames again, ~2012-2014ish and put the original Eames kick back in the lineup. Even with the Ayotte, he replaced the kick with a Gretsch kick and even used a Recording Custom kick (!) with that Ayotte kit. And since he never endorsed anyone, I know he played an RC on their Japan tours (with original RC kick). Since then its been a circle of N&C, Gretsch, Yamaha (yes, stage custom for one year), Tama Bubinga Starclassic and now back to a Gretsch I think keeping the same kick, at least for tours.

I remember the Kenny Aronoff ads promoting the 22x18 bass drums by Tama. Then I just saw his interview and said he almost always uses a WLF 22x14 for just about everything he records. Now we have a bunch of old 90s-00s kits with 18" depth that no one wants, lol
Click to expand...

Solid point. Birch is just not a satisfying wood for kicks, it seems
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top